With around 20,000 seamounts, the new geological system under the sea could be an oasis for hundreds of species.
more than 24,600 new seamounts They were first mapped by a team of geologists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. There has never been any news about this geological formation, which It doubles the number of high peaks on Earth.
To achieve this, a team from the University of California (based in San Diego) It uses a set of satellite images. With this, the investigation revealed the exact location and number of seamounts Hidden from science for centuries. This is what we know.
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“Just as the mountains rise above the surface of the earth, Seamounts also rise above the ocean floorhe explains Science News. The Scripps researchers would not have found this seamount system without satellite imagery. Because of the magnitude of the discovery, They called them the Kelvin Seamounts.
The researchers found this little-known geological system from satellite measurements of sea level elevation. It was working on bumps.”Due to the gravitational effect of seamountsas indicated in the study.
Since the rock is slightly denser than water, “the presence of a seamount slightly alters the Earth’s gravitational field at that location.” Thus they were able to establish a census of the missing mountains.
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Based on this finding, the researchers think so There is a kind of “oasis” for underwater life in this natural environment. Especially because It is strewn with hot spots – Formed by local volcanic activity – Helps multiply marine biodiversity.
on How do you benefit these environments For marine life, the study authors highlighted these traits:
- encourage a Lots of habitats
- allowed to appear Nutrient rich water
- Distributes beneficial compounds (eg nitrates and phosphates)
Final details of the map of these seamounts It was achieved using sonar installed on a ship. This revealed how Mount Kelvin, off the coast of Massachusetts, rises from the seafloor (purple and blue indicate low elevation, red indicates high elevation, as seen in the featured image of this article). So far, experts say, Only 20% of ocean floors have been mapped from here.
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